Fire alarm



G. W. JONES Sept. 3, 1935.

FIRE ALARM Filed April 5, 1934 saw Patented Sept. 3, 1935 5 Claims.

My invention relates to portable fire alarms.

An object of my invention is to provide a simple, practical, andinexpensive fire alarm adapted for use in homes, factories, sea vessels,airplanes, and in any other place or places where a fire is liable tooccur.

A further object of my invention is to provide a fire alarm equippedwith a fusible member or other means normally holding a spring actuateddetonator and which when released will violently strike a cartridge orother explosive to sound an alarm.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a fire alarm ofthis type which can be transferred from place to place with ease andwhich can be located at a critical point within the structure to beguarded from the hazard of fire, and is especially adapted for the useof an itinerant guest in a hotel or other lodging place where theproprietor thereof has neglected to furnish pro-per fire alarms.

The arrangements and combinations of parts, and the constructions andoperations of the same will appear more fully in the followingspecification, reference being made to the drawing accompanying the samein which:

Figure 1 is a. perspective view of my invention in its preferred form.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of my invention in an alternative form.

Referring with more particularity to Figure 1, the numeral l designatesa housing of any suitable material having a door 2 hingedly mountedthereon. Within said housing a lever indicated by 3 is pivotally mountedat one end to an inner wall of the housing, shown in Figure 1 at 4. Theother end of the lever 3 is shaped to the form of a detonating point orfiring pin 5. One end of a cord 6, or other similar means, is secured tothe lever at a point between the fulcrum and the detonating point, theother end of which is secured to one end of a piece of bismuth 'l, orother fusible material designed to fuse, yield, or rupture at apredetermined temperature. The opposite end of the said fusible materialis secured to the wall of the housing by means of an anchor 8. A springii is tensionally mounted having one of its ends anchored to the housingat ill, and its other end secured to the lever 3 at H, being so mountedthat the lever is held in a retracted position against the tension ofthe said spring by means of the fusible metal 1 and its appurtenantparts.

An explosion box represented by the numeral I2, is preferably of a heatresisting material and is fixedly mounted on the wall of the housing byrivets, screws, or otherwise, as shown in the Figure 1. At the top ofthe said explosion box an aperture is designed to receive the body of acartridge IE, or other explosive, having its detonating head projectingtherefrom and at the same distance from the fulcrum 4 as the point ofthe detonator 5. To permit the expulsion of gases from an explosion ofthe said cartridge or explosive, an exhaust port 14, or other ports, maybe provided in the explosion box. The purpose of the said explosion boxis to avoid any fire hazard which may be imminent from an explosion ofthe cartridge E3. The housing i is provided with a hanger I5 tofacilitate mounting the instrument in a convenient place.

Referring to Figure 2, which shows a modification of my invention, asimilar housing is employed to encase the instrument, and is designatedby the numeral It. An explosion box, represented by H, is similar indesign to that shown in Figure 1, and carries a similar explosive chargel8. I9 is a block of any suitable material, rigidly mounted inside thehousing, positioned directly above the explosive charge l8, and having avertical aperture therein at 2i? through which a rod 2| is slidablymounted. The lower end of said rod 2| is formed into a detonating point22. A spring 23 is compressibly mounted between and abuts the block ison the one end and the head of the detonator 22 at its other end therebytending to exert a downward thrust on the head of the said detonator,which when released will strike the explosive charge E8. The upper endof said rod 2| is anchored, to the Wall of the housing by means of aribbon of bismuth metal 26, or some other type of material designed tofuse, yield, or rupture at a predetermined temperature.

It is understood that various changes in the form, proportion, and minordetails of construction within the scope of the appended claims may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention orsacrificing any advantages thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a portable fire alarm, a housing contain ing a spring actuateddetonator, an explosion box having an exhaust therein, an explosivecharge carried in said explosion box, means for automatically actuatingsaid detonator against said explosive charge when the surroundingatmosphere reaches a predetermined temperature.

2. In a portable fire alarm, a lever pivo'tally mounted, a detonatorcarried on said lever, a spring tensionally mounted between the base ofthe instrument and the lever, means for holding said lever against theactuation by said spring through a predetermined range of temperature,

an explosion box having an exhaust therein, and a cartridge removablycarried in said explosion box at the radius of said detonator.

3. In a portable fire alarm, a lever pivotally mounted at one end, adetonator at the other end, means for actuating said detonator againstan explosion charge at a predetermined temperature, an explosion box incooperative relation with said explosive charge, and an exhaust port insaid explosion box.

4. In a portable fire alarm, a housing containing a spring actuateddetonator, a non-shatterable explosion box, an exhaust port in saidexplosion box, an explosive charge removably carried on said explosionbox, means for actuating said detonator against said explosive chargewhen the surrounding atmosphere reaches a predetermined temperature.

5. In a portable fire alarm, a housing containing a spring actuateddetonator, an explosive charge, means for actuating said detonatoragainst said charge when the surrounding atmosphere reaches apredetermined temperature, a non-shatterable explosion box carrying saidexplosive charge, and exhaust means for allowing the gases formed by anexplosion of said explosive charge to escape said explosion box.

GEORGE W. JONES.

